Electric Eye
by Maribaka
Summary: Nanashi has passed, and Kitten was filled with so much despair, she threw everyone out of her guild. But soon, she decides to rewrite the past, so that the horrible event that took her thief's life does not happen again.


_Six years had passed since the Second War of MÄR Heaven had ended, and the world was peaceful again._

_In certain places, maybe a little too peaceful._

* * *

In the abandoned fortress that used to be home to a large group of thieves, there sat a single woman. She was on her own now, spending her time in despair, rather than serenity. The end of the war did not fill her with as much delight as one would have hoped, and instead, tore her happiness from her very spirit.

In her loneliness, the part-feline female was sitting on a fallen wooden barrel, one leg crossed over the other, and with tired eyes filled with disappointment, she looked at something in her hand. The stare she gave was blank, though fixed upon two rings rested on her palm.

_The Electric Eye._

So badly did she want to crush them in her hand out of the frustration and hatred she'd felt for the memory they carried with them, wherever she brought them. But as she started to bring her fingers closer to the center of her hand, slowly curling and forming a fist around the rings, she realized how important they were, or had been— to her thief, that is.

Oh, so much, she used to want them. Used to long for and admire them. She'd always thought they were the greatest ÄRM, and now— now, she didn't know what to think. They were very powerful, yes; the symbol of the boss of Luberia. They came with responsibilities and trust; they came with recognition. She had wanted them just to be feared, to be awed. To be viewed as someone special and important and great. And now, after what had happened years ago, she was wishing that they never even existed.

If they hadn't been given to him, Nanashi never would have been able to enter the war. _Never have died._

With this memory resurfacing in her mind; the one where her thief had put the ÄRM in her hand as he was laying on the ground and dying, telling her to be the new leader of the thieves; the cat hissed loudly and glared at the rings, then chucked them at a nearby wall. She hadn't given her actions much thought beforehand, and now, she was quickly rushing over to check on them, hoping they hadn't been broken. After all, they were one of the only things related to Nanashi that she still had left. And, thankfully, they were still perfectly intact.

She picked them up, off the ground, and brought them back to her bedroom. There, she locked them in a box and put them away. Out of her sight— at least, for the moment.

Kitten, now twenty-two years of age, had been alone in the thieves' guild for about five and a half years. She'd seen just about no one since then, not even her friends or family. Having been so upset about the loss of her lover, she simply pushed everyone else away.

_"If I have no one around me, I won't have anyone else to lose..."_

The other thieves had insisted on staying with her, but she yelled at them and demanded that they leave, even threatening to electrocute them at times. Honestly, they weren't given a choice. Sad as they were, the men agreed and went their own ways. So, Kitten spent the years by herself, living in a silent guild, sad and isolated, thinking only about her last memory of Nanashi, and of how much she missed him.

However, it finally came to the point where she realized that this had gone on too long. She wasted much of her time, and for what? She had to do something about it. And she came to a decision: She would bring him back, no matter what it took.

* * *

A few hours had passed, and her mood had become calmer. She was still a little depressed, but the thoughts did not linger so much anymore. She took this time to visit her beloved's grave, crouching quietly in front of it, and placing a new flower where the old one once was, after which, she whispered to him softly.

"I miss you." She said. "I don't go a day without thinking of you, without loving you. My heart is still yours, just like I promised you it would be."

When she finished, Kitten stood up, taking the red headband from on top off his tombstone, which she tied loosely around her neck. She held it gently with both hands, as if hugging it to her face, and gave a small sniff. Though the wind had blown through it for years, his scent was still faintly there. She blushed slightly as she thought of her thief, then looked at the stone before her with a determined expression.

"Whatever it is that I have to do, Nanashi," She mumbled. "I will bring you back to life. I swear to it. I wish to see you again, to hold you again." With that said, she turned and ran off, leaving the forest in which he had been buried.

"If I'm going to revive him, I have to go back to the past." She told herself. "Back before any of this happened; I have to save him before he can die again!"

She returned to Luberia and grabbed her Andata, calling out its name and asking that the Dimension ÄRM then take her to the Caldian Castle. Upon arriving there, she would talk to its current queen; her old friend, Dorothy; about finding a special ÄRM to help on her mission.

* * *

"You want to time-travel?" The witch looked down at the cat out of curiosity from her throne, but her expression was seeming as though she thought the other girl was insane. It was a sudden question, after all; of course it would be granted a strange look.

"I _need_ to." Kitten corrected as she stared up at her, serious and stubborn as always, though her eyes did beg for the queen's help. "Please, can you tell me how?"

With her expression softening and a slight tilt of her head, Dorothy gave a smile that, if paid enough attention to, could also look like a frown. She was very well aware of her friend's reason for asking this of her, and even as she thought it was risky and not something she should be messing around with, she still decided to help her. After all, she, too, missed that silly thief from years ago. So she explained that there was a certain one-of-a-kind ÄRM she had to find, that she'd have to go through hell to get. After the cat continued to insist on this, the witch handed her a map and directions to where it was hidden, and had her put on a dimension ÄRM earring to contact her if she needed any help.

* * *

The next morning, Kitten set out to find her special ÄRM, the one she'd be using to visit the past and change the future. She knew it would be a difficult journey, but she prepared herself mentally up to this point; she had to be ready, otherwise, she wasn't good enough to be trusted with this kind of risk, or with the right to see her beloved again.

The feline grabbed all of her weapons and supplies; in the forms of rings, bracelets, and the like; then put them on, as well as her thief's headband, which she had tied around her forehead, just as he used to do.

"Nanashi, just you wait—" She said softly, her serious and determined eyes staring into the forest ahead of her. "I'm going to bring you back to me."

She quickly looked at the map and directions that had been given to her by Dorothy, then ran into the abyss of trees. It was an odd place, and she hadn't even been aware if its existence. Anywhere she looked, it was trees, trees, and nothing else but trees. And although it was morning, it was too quiet; she had expected at least a couple birds to have been singing in the branches above her, but even that wasn't the case. It started to freak her out a little, but it wouldn't make her turn and run home.

Hours had passed by, and she was still running and running. The forest had been quite big; more so than she had expected; and she hadn't yet come across a cave, like the one mentioned in the witch's notes.

"How strange," She paused, glancing at the map, and then taking a look around. "There's supposed to be a cave, somewhere near here. But I don't see anything of the sort. Where could it be?"

From behind her, there came a suspicious voice; it echoed through the trees, and almost sent goosebumps and chills up her spine. "A cave, you say?"

She feared that something horrible might have been behind her, but when she looked over her shoulder, all she had seen was a wolf.

"If it's a cave you seek, then I can show you where it is." He grinned, fangs clearly visible before her eyes.

She gulped softly, and gave a hesitant nod at the wolf; if he knew where she was supposed to go, then following him was her only chance of getting there— she couldn't risk failing now; she had to take it.

"Show me, please." Kitten said, doing her best to remain respectful and calm.

"Follow me, then~." Turning and walking to her right, he went down an invisible path, and it didn't take him long before he disappeared behind a few bushes.

The girl ran after him immediately, rustling through the leaves and searching about. She soon found herself in front of a massive opening at the bottom of a tall mountain located at the back of the forest.

The wolf, who stood beside her, had looked up at her before nodding his head towards the entrance, as if trying to tell her to go and look inside.

She stared at the cave, excitement and awe shining in her emerald eyes, before she slowly made her way inside, heading deeper and deeper into it.

* * *

The cave was almost completely silent, except for a few echoes of water dripping from stalactites on the ceiling here and there, and the footsteps that sounded as Kitten walked inside; otherwise, there was nothing else to be heard.

"This place seems pretty small." The cat commented to herself as she leaned forward a bit, to give herself some space as she travelled through the narrow pathways.

Though, it seemed like she had spoken a little bit too soon, as the cave then opened up wider the more she kept walking, the ceiling now many feet taller than she was, and the whole width of it seeming endless.

Kitten blinked and stopped where she stood, curiously looking at the farthest, yet also the darkest part of the rocky room. She thought she'd seen something spark in the back, and wasn't sure if it was her imagination; or lack of a good night's sleep; getting to her.

"What was that?" She gasped. "Could it be—?"

She walked closer, slowly and cautiously, being aware of her surroundings in case there were traps or things were about to fall, but also so that she wouldn't trip on any of the rocks. When she got close enough, she seemed to find what she had been looking for.

Behind a bunch of stalagmites sat a wooden chest, slightly cracked open; the white light she saw just minutes before shining through the darkness within it.

"Is it the ÄRM?"

She placed her hands on either side of the box, doing her best to gently pull it out of its nesting spot, though it did prove difficult; and at times, she had to tug a bit harder than she had wanted, which made her fear that it might break; but finally, she was able to pick it up and take a look inside, nearly blinded by a large flash of light before laying her eyes upon the treasure.

Inside, there was a ruby amulet, which gave off a golden glow around it. She held it in one hand as she grabbed Dorothy's notes from before, looking at the picture she was given of the special time-travelling ÄRM. Studying them both closely, she quickly came to her decision.

"Yup, this is what I came here for!"

She smiled at the necklace, and quickly put it back in the chest. Then, after everything was put away; the papers and ÄRM carefully placed inside the bag on her back; Kitten was about ready to leave. Though, something felt a little off.

"That seemed a little too easy..." She said to herself, after remembering how Dorothy had told her that it wouldn't be. "How strange."

Just as these words escaped from her mouth, it hit her. Sharp, fang-like teeth sank into one of her bare calves, tearing through her flesh and causing a crimson liquid to trickle down her leg. She shrieked loudly, glancing down to see one angry wolf with his mouth to her skin, confused about why he, the one who had led her inside the cave, had suddenly attacked her.

It was hard to move away from him; his grip was strong and she was weakening, becoming dizzy due to the pain and loss of blood, but she couldn't let things end here; her mission had only just started, and there was still so much more she had to do. She had to get out of here, and as soon as possible. So she shook the wolf off of her and kicked it into one of the cave walls, then ran away as fast as her tired feet would take her, hoping she remembered where the exit had been; but her escape wasn't going to be easy.

The vibrations from the wolf's large body smashing against the rock woke up a family of bats; vicious and angry and sleep-deprived, possibly rabies-carrying bats; who had their fun chasing the cat around the cave. The ruckus from this then caused large, almost boulder-like pieces of the ceiling to fall; and if she hadn't been so good at dodging, they would have crushed her irreparably. Thanks to her quick movements, she was able to dodge almost everything that had dropped around her in the small space near the opening of the cave, except one; a single rock had fallen onto her torso, but she managed to carefully push it aside and did not seem to have broken anything from the force.

She was a bit weak and had a slight limp and many small scratches and bruises thanks to those wretched bats, but she was still able to stand and walk out of the cave, back into the large forest she'd started in.

But just when she thought she was safe, everything went wrong.

The poor battered girl couldn't take much of this anymore, and dropped to the ground. Though, she knew that she had to go on; that many things depended on this and she couldn't just give up now; so she tried her hardest to push herself back onto her feet. And as she slowly stood up, a circle of fire spread around her. Following that, there was laughter that sounded as though it had come from Chess Pieces; but it was rather hard to tell whether new or old.

"So, you guys are still around, I see?" She glared with weakening eyes through the orange flames, pain and disgust dripping off her tongue. "I thought we had gotten rid of you all many years ago, but maybe we were wrong. It seems you don't learn, though."

Her eyes narrowed more, and she hissed, "You should really get over yourselves and stop attacking innocent people!"

Before the men could reply, she stood up straighter, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She knew her next move would hurt a little, but considering certain things, she was sure she'd live. And, without a second thought, she ran right through the thick flames that had danced about and encircled her. She did not dare scream as the heat burned her skin, as she didn't want to give the Chess the pleasure of hearing her while in pain.

When she escaped the fire, Kitten then pulled a short sword from her back and ran at each man, one by one, slowly taking the life of every single one. A person who tried to kill an innocent was not a person who should be left alive, and so, not a single life was spared.

* * *

Just as Kitten was finally able to leave the forest; her breathing heavy and ragged, and her body throbbing in pain; she heard the familiar voice of Caldia's current queen, and suddenly remembered she had been wearing a dimension ÄRM earring this whole time.

"Kit, are you alright?"

She could hear worry clear in her friend's voice, as she tapped the earring with her index finger, gave one more huff, and replied to the concerned witch.

"Somewhat, I think."

"You don't sound like you are. What happened to you?"

"I'll tell you in a bit. Just— could you please summon me back to your throne room? I don't dare use any magic of my own, right now."

"Very well. Hold on a moment."

The connection was cut with a slight buzzing sound, and then, a blue light began to sparkle around Kitten's body. She soon found herself in the Caldian Castle, looking up at the queen.

"Well? What happened to you?" Dorothy stared at her as she noticed all the bruises, blood, and marks on the poor girl's skin.

So Kitten began her explanation. "I was tricked and attacked by a wolf, chased by a swarm of bats, nearly crushed by boulders falling from the ceiling because, apparently, the cave wasn't safe for people to go into. After that, I ran through fire since I was too weak to summon magical power to use my Andata, for fear that it would kill me if I tried—"

Dorothy gasped, interrupting the cat. "You ran through fire?!"

Kitten nodded. "Yes. Thankfully, lightning; which I've become immune to due to such harsh training with Nanashi and his Nature ÄRMs; isn't that different than fire, so I made it through with only a few bleeding wounds."

"Well..." Said the witch. "I told you that you'd have to go through hell to get the ÄRM, didn't I? But all of that was just a test— to see how much you really wanted to get your thief back, and how much you loved him."

Hearing this, the cat stared at the witch in silence for but a moment, a bright rosy glow taking over her face. She quickly turned her head to the side and avoided eye-contact, a little too nervous.

"Yeah, well... I-I did say I'd do anything for him. Nanashi was my everything. I really love him, and I want him back."

The witch gave a soft giggle at the cat's embarrassment, then stood up from her throne. "Shall we get you fixed up, now?"

She removed an ÄRM from her dimension zipper, and smiled at Kitten, who nodded. Only a few minutes after, every wound and bruise, ache and pain the cat had was relieved and healed.

"Well now, would you look at that? It's already nighttime!" The witch glanced out the window for a moment, then looked back at her friend. "You've had a long day today. Why don't you rest here for the night, and then set out for the next part of your mission tomorrow? I'll be sure to lock your ÄRMs up in a safe place for you, until you leave."

"Th-Thank you, Dorothy! I really appreciate everything you've been doing for me. It means a lot." Said Kitten, as she smiled up at her.

"It's no problem at all. What're friends for?" Dorothy winked.

She then led Kitten to a spare room, and put away all her ÄRMs. After which, she left the cat to sleep, and went to get rest of her own.

* * *

It was early the next morning when Kitten began to pack up her things again. Though, it wasn't long before she found herself being interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door.

"Going somewhere?" The witch teased, giving a light smirk. But, after a moment, she sighed and frowned slightly. "You're planning to leave for Nanashi now, aren't you? Even though it's barely light out? It's too early!"

"Dorothy, I'm going back in time. Will this really matter, in the end?" Kitten asked, not exactly planning on sounding rude, as she looked back at the queen.

"No, I suppose not. But I still hoped you'd get a good amount of rest before you decided to do this, Kit! Getting the ÄRM might have been hard enough, but who says saving Nanashi from dying will be easy?"

Kitten didn't have much of a comment on that last part, and decided to go back to the conversation about her lack of sleep.

"To make matters worse, I didn't really get that much sleep anyway. I kept thinking of my thief, so I was awake more than half the night."

She was silent for a moment, thinking things over. Her mood didn't seem pleasant.

"But..." Her voice dropped, nearly to a whisper. "When I did fall asleep, even for a few minutes, I had a premonition of how this mission was going to go down."

"Well?" Dorothy looked at her with interest, but also with worry, as she tapped her foot on the floor. "What happens?"

"I can't tell you." The cat turned her back to the witch and continued packing her things. "It wasn't a really nice vision, I saw..."

"But you're still going through with it?" Dorothy asked.

"I have to!" The cat faced her again, almost hissing and glaring when she looked into her worried eyes. "Or all of this...would have been for nothing. I can't let it come to that, Dorothy. Please understand this."

"Very well, then." The witch frowned. "Just, please be careful."

* * *

About an hour after her talk with the witch, Kitten left without a word and got ready to continue her mission.

In front of the Caldian Gates, she pulled out her amulet-like ÄRM and activated it. A white portal appeared before her, and she quickly ran into it. Soon after, she found herself standing about fifteen feet from Reginlief Castle's stage; the place where the final battles of the War Games were held. And Nanashi was in the middle of fighting Peta!

"Perfect timing, I suppose." The cat mumbled, putting the ÄRM in her pocket as the portal vanished behind her.

Walking closer to the stage, she studied the battle that was going on, watching as Nanashi tried to attack the Chess Piece. But it seemed to come with difficulty, as he had already been weakened quite a lot. He was bleeding harshly, and his skin was torn in various places; he hadn't yet gotten the chance to use his Holy ÄRM: Aegis to heal himself.

Almost without thinking; maybe due to confusion and dizziness from his wounds, or from frustration and the desire to end this quickly; he blasted his enemy with a shot from the Electric Eye; the very sight of which brought back horrible memories for Kitten.

But his attack had no affect on the man, for Peta sent it right back to him with his Dark Reflector. It electrocuted the thief a little, but he would live.

Then, the feline caught sight of Peta's Sickle Death rising high into the air, and her eyes went wide. If this weapon made contact with Nanashi's body, his life would be over. This was the attack that had taken his life before, and she wasn't going to let that happen again.

She didn't give it much thought before she ran forward and found herself on top of the stage, separating Peta from Nanashi. And everything was over in an instant.

The thief, confused as he was, blinked and looked at her.

"K-Kitten...?"

The cat coughed into her palm as blood stained her pale flesh.

"I had heard that you were immune to lightning; but I assume you aren't also immune to weaponry?" Peta's sadistic voice snickered behind her as he stepped closer.

She lost her voice as she tried to speak, then began gasping for air and screaming with pain; the blade of Peta's nasty scythe piercing into her back for a second time, and ripping through her heart. She had never before felt such horrible pain, except for the moment she'd lost her thief.

"Never interrupt a battle, missy. You just might end up dying." The man roughly pulled his weapon back, even more blood than usual dripping from its gory blade.

He laughed once more as she dropped to the ground; Nanashi screaming her name with absolute terror in his eyes, for fear that he'd lose her.

Kitten laid motionless on the stone stage floor, her eyes slowly closing; blinking in between; as she listened to the sound of her heartbeat getting fainter and fainter.

_Buh-bum... buh-bum... buh…_

Until she finally blacked out. But that wasn't the end, not yet.

Nanashi, growing even angrier with Peta; if at all possible; finally stood back up. He quickly summoned Aegis to heal himself, then went forth to attack the man again. This time, each and every strike was even harsher and fiercer and more unforgiving than before.

Peta barely had a chance to counterattack, and his Blood Body had finally been destroyed. Now, Nanashi could defeat him. He could KILL him. And he wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

"You've killed too many innocents in your time." He paused to glare at the man, before finishing, "Goodbye, Peta." One swift movement, and the man was dead.

As soon as he was declared the winner, the thief ran back to his cat and dropped to his knees at her side, worry returning to his eyes.

"Kit!" He gasped. "Kitten, are you alright?"

"Nnn..." She slowly woke up, though she was still weak.

"Nanashi." She reached out to place her hand on his cheek, and smiled up at him slightly. "Do not pay attention to me. I'm merely a version of Kitten from a bad future; one that, now, will never come. But don't worry, the version of me from the current time is still alive, and had been watching the fight. You still have her."

With a bright, yet bittersweet smile, she said softly, "You haven't lost Kitten, only the version of her who saved you..."

The twenty-two-year-old began to fade away then, becoming a white orb that floated right into the current Kitten, who now had her memories and experiences from the future that once was.

And then, after realizing what was going on; what was supposed to happen, and how she would have felt about it; Kitten ran up to see Nanashi, tears in her eyes, as she gave him a tight hug and a quick kiss on the lips, thankful that he was still alive, and that, in a sense, she had been the one to save him.

"Kitten," The thief interrupted the silence as he placed something in the palm of her right hand, smiling down at her. "I want you to have these."

She blinked as she looked at him, confused as to what he'd given to her. But when she finally turned her attention to the objects sitting in her hand, her heart skipped a beat, and her eyes widened with surprise, a light flush appearing on her cheeks.

"Th-The Electric Eye!" She was so shocked, she could just barely gasp. "But— Nanashi! This was your favorite ÄRM, wasn't it? So, why are you giving it to me so suddenly?"

"No, Kitten." He shook his head and smiled more, pushing the hand which held the rings closer to her heart. "It was _your_ favorite ÄRM. And now it belongs to you."

"But that also means—" She couldn't find a way to finish the sentence before her voice trailed off and she became at a loss for words, shock overtaking her.

"Yes. You're now the leader of the Luberian Thieves' Guild."

Nanashi gave a light amused grin at her now blushing cheeks, and kissed her forehead gently. Then, he leaned forward a bit to whisper softly in her ear.

"You've always wanted this, right? Well...now you have it. And it's yours to keep. Just like I am, and will forever be."


End file.
